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WILL HAVE MORE FOR YOU LATER ON TODAY ON WESH 2 NEWS FIRST AT 4:00 AT LATE-BREAKING THIS NEWS, A PLEA DEAL LEAVES A VICTIM'S FAMILY DEFLATED 16 YEARS AFTER SHE WAS MURDERED. THE MAN ORIGINALLY CHARGED WITH SECOND-DEGREE MURDER IN THE BEATING DEATH OF HIS GIRLFRIEND IN 1998 WAS ALLOWED TO PLEA TO A REDUCED CHARGE OF AGGRAVATED BATTERY. DAVE McDANIEL IS LIVE AT THE SEMINOLE COUNTY COURTHOUSE. EMOTIONAL MOMENTS IN THE COURTROOM THIS MORNING. THAT'S ABSOLUTELY THE CASE, MICHELLE. THE FAMILY WAS HEARD OF THE PLEA DEAL A FEW DAYS AGO. THEY WERE HIT WITH THE SURPRISE TODAY IN COURT. THEY DIDN'T LIKE THERE WAS A DEAL BUT THEY FELT LIKE THEY HAD TO ACCEPT IT. A KEY WITNESS HAS ALL OF A SUDDEN REFUSED TO TESTIFY, ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT DO IT, SO BECAUSE OF THAT, THEY FELT THEY WERE FORCED TO CUT A DEAL. JACKIE SHEEHAN WAS DESCRIBED AS THE BRIGHT LIGHT IN THE FAMILY. SHE WAS SUDDENLY TAKEN FROM US AND EVERYTHING WENT DARK. HER SISTER READ AN EMOTIONAL TRIBUTE. HOW HER 31-YEAR-OLD SISTER, A MOTHER OF TWO LITTLE ONES WHEN SHE WAS BEATEN TO DEATH 16 YEARS AGO, WAS SOMEONE WHO WAS ALWAYS POSITIVE. SHE SHINED LIKE A DIAMOND WHEN SHE WALKED INTO THE ROOM. THAT WAS JACKIE, OR FU, AS THOSE WHO LOVED HER CALLED HER. ANOTHER TALKED ABOUT THE UNFAIRNESS OF A YOUNG LIFE GONE. IT TOOK 15 YEARS AND AN EXTRADITION FROM NEW ENGLAND TO GET RODNEY BYCE, HER OLD GIRLFRIEND, BACK TO CENTRAL FLORIDA TO BE CHARGED WITH MURDER. THE KEY WITNESS NOW REFUSES TO COOPERATE. WITHOUT HIM, THEY FEEL THE CASE WOULD FAIL AT TRIAL. RODNEY BYCE WAS ALLOWED TO PLEAD TO AGGRAVATED BATTERY AND RECEIVED THREE YEARS IN PRISON AFTER A YEAR IN JAIL. HE GOT AWAY WITH IT. WE'RE DOING LIFE. THE SISTERS DIDN'T AGREE WITH THE DEAL AND DIDN'T LIKE IT BUT TOLD THEY FELT THIS IS BETTER THAN NOTHING. THEY URGED THEIR SISTER TO GET AWAY FROM HER ABUSER YEARS AGO, THEY HOPE OTHERS WILL TAKE THEIR ADVICE. SHE NEVER TOOK OUR ADVICE. IT COULD HAVE CHANGED THINGS, HINDSIGHT BEING 2020. THE SISTERS SAYS THEY DO NOT BLAME THE STATE ATTORNEY FOR HOW THIS ALL WORKED OUT BUT UNHAPPY HOW IT ALL PLAYED OUT IN COURT. I ASKED THE STATE ATTORNEY WHY THEY DIDN'T TRY TO COMPEL THE WITNESS INTO COURT AND ISSUE A COURT ORDER, HAVE HIM MOVE FROM UPSTATE NEW YORK, MASSACHUSETTS, BACK TO CENTRAL FLORIDA. THEY SAID HE'S SO FEARFUL ABOUT TESTIFYING IN THIS CASE THAT HE WOULD GO TO JAIL BEFORE HE WOULD TAKE THE STAND. THEY JUST FEAR THEY WOULD GET